


Things Always Find a Way to go to Hell With These People

by Jaromo99



Category: All For The Game - Nora Sakavic, Raven Cycle - Maggie Stiefvater
Genre: College, F/F, F/M, M/M, Multi, Palmetto State University, Post-The King's Men, Post-The Raven King, Tutoring
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-02-26
Updated: 2019-03-03
Packaged: 2019-11-06 01:02:54
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 4
Words: 7,751
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17929805
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Jaromo99/pseuds/Jaromo99
Summary: Adam attends Palmetto State University and somehow drags the Foxes into the newest magical bullshit.





	1. A Dinner Party That Goes Well? Maybe.

Mass that week had been what it always was. Ronan knew the drill. Act like he is at least attempting to exchange pleasantries. Have a stiff, angry, and borderline hateful conversation with Declan. Matthew jumps in to lighten up the conversation just before Ronan decides that the need to nail Declan in the face was more important than preserving the sanctity of St. Agnes. Sit quietly and go through the motions. Then the three of them stand up and leave as quickly as is physically possible so they can go their separate ways. 

That’s how it usually went anyway. But for some godforsaken reason, this week Declan decided not to stick to the program. He grabbed Ronan’s arm as they walked out into the parking lot, preventing Ronan from making his traditional beeline to his BMW. “I need you to come to DC this weekend.”

Ronan scowled. “Go fuck yourself”, he hissed as he tried to pull his arm away.

“Ronan, please.”

“Well since you asked so nicely, go fuck yourself, please.”

“I have some of dad’s old partners over for a dinner party, I need the whole family there.”

In hindsight, Ronan shouldn’t have dignified that with a response, but it’s Ronan, so it needed to be made into a fight. “What are you gonna do, take some of dad’s ashes out of the urn at the Barns and bring them to your party in a ziploc bag? I don’t know how you can get mom there, though. You’ll have to figure that one out yourself.” The harshness of his words were enough that Declan dropped his arm. 

It took Declan a few seconds to recover, and Ronan was happy at that fact. “Ronan, you know what I meant.”

“I have plans with my boyfriend this weekend, I’m not coming.” He fully expected that announcing he was dating someone, a guy no less, would cause Declan to blow up, but instead he was quiet and looked at him with a blank face for a solid ten seconds.

Ronan decided he’d won, and turned to walk away, but Declan yelled “So bring him with!” from behind him. Ronan heard him, but got in his car and drove off anyway, leaving his brothers in the parking lot.

 

***

Matthew called three times, then, after those were all ignored, texted nearly 20 times over the course of the next three days begging Ronan to come to the party on Saturday. Ronan ignored them all. It was when Adam was over after work on Wednesday that Matthew called again. Ronan was going to ignore it, but Adam rolled his eyes and picked up the phone to look at the screen. “It’s Matthew,” he said, trying to hand the phone to Ronan. Ronan just looked at it before looking at Adam’s face, then back to the model car he had in his hands. Adam interpreted that how he wanted and answered the phone himself. “Hey Matthew! It’s Adam. Adam Parrish? We’ve met a few times.”

He listened for a few seconds, then smiled. “Oh, yeah. I’m sure he’s talked about me a lot.” Ronan made a certain rude gesture at Adam. “Ronan’s in a mood right now, so I don’t think I can get him to talk to you. Do you have anything you want me to pass along?” Another 30 seconds. “I don’t know, Matthew, I might be able to, but I can’t promise anything. I’ll make sure you know soon, though, okay?” He sent a pointed look at Ronan before saying a quick goodbye to Matthew.

“So. Dinner party on Saturday. At 5. In DC. That you’ve been asked to attend. Funny that was never brought up, huh?”

Ronan made the same rude gesture again. “I’m not going.”

“Why not? Matthew wants you there. It’ll be a chance to see him outside of your normal two hours a week.”

“It’s Declan’s party. If I go he’ll think he won. He’ll think he has some kind of control over me.”

“Okay. I get that, but it’s Matthew. And he said I’m invited.” 

Ronan stopped fiddling with the model car in his hands and put it on the bed. “I know what you’re doing. I know that you’re trying to make this about you and Matthew because you think I’ll go if it’s about you two.”

“Mhmm. I’m not wrong, though. Matthew would love to see you. And I think it’d be good to truly understand what you’re complaining about when you whine about Declan’s parties.” 

“I’ll think about it.”

***

At three AM the next morning, Adam was woken up by Ronan barging into his apartment. He slammed the door loudly, most likely waking up the occupant of the other apartment. He hoped she wouldn’t say anything. The last time Ronan made a scene in the middle of the night one of the nuns had come up to remind him that night time is for sleeping, not teenage boys and their pet corvids screaming. 

Ronan sat on the end of the bed as Adam pulled himself up so he was sitting. “You have that suit Dick II gave you, right?”

It is far too early for this shit, Adam thought. He nodded twice.

“Good. You’ll need in Saturday. Go back to sleep, you’re messing up your schedule.”

Adam didn’t know if he wanted to complain about the fact that Ronan was the one who woke him up or if he wanted to point out that Ronan rarely slept himself. So instead he laid back down, making sure to kick Ronan in the process, and went back to sleep.

 

***

Saturday afternoon Declan called again while Ronan was driving to DC with Adam. Adam didn’t even bother asking before answering the phone. “Hey Declan, it’s Adam.”

“Parrish?”

“Yeah, who else would I be?” 

Declan paused. “Nothing, nothing, it’s just… Nevermind. Are you guys on your way?”

“Yeah, we left like an hour ago. So we’ll probably be there by three.”

“It’s a three hour drive, though.”

“Ronan’s driving.” 

Ronan snorted loudly. Declan just sighed. “Okay, I guess. See you guys soon.”

After hanging up, Adam put Ronan’s phone in the cupholder and re-opened the book he was reading on Norse Mythology. 

 

***

Thanks to Ronan’s driving, they got into DC before 2:30 and to the venue by 2:40. Ronan was all for just sitting in the car until five o’clock rolled around, but Declan’s car was parked in the lot, so Adam got up to head inside. Ronan followed. After asking the woman at the front desk what floor they were supposed to be on, they went up. The elevator doors opened on the fourth floor. Adam went to find a bathroom to change in while Ronan blatantly ignored the signs directing him to where he was supposed to go. 

After about five minutes of aimless wandering he came across Matthew laying on the stage of an otherwise empty room with his phone held out above him. He looked over when the door opened and dropped his phone on face, made a quiet oof sound, and jumped up to tackle Ronan in a bearhug. 

Ronan and Matthew talked (well, Matthew talked, Ronan listened) for a few minutes. Matthew jumped from topic to topic without so much as a breath in between. He talked about the girl he got partnered up with for a group project in his class. Although he loved Aglionby, it was obvious he enjoyed going to a school that also had girls in attendance. Ronan’s sarcastic comment about that lead to a rant on the inequalities of school uniforms for the girls versus the boys that would make a certain maggot proud.

Eventually Ronan realized just how long Adam had been gone, so he left Matthew to go in search of him. He found him just down the hall standing with none other than Declan Lynch. As he walked over to interfere, he heard the end of their conversation. Ronan couldn’t quite hear what Adam was saying, but once he finished Declan jumped in, “One of the guests is Jarred Allard. He’s based in South Carolina, but I think he may be the right person to talk to for that. I can introduce you two later, if that’s okay with you.”

Adam nodded, “that’d be great, actually. I’ll let Ronan know so he doesn’t think you’re randomly kidnapping me or something. Thanks, Declan.” He glanced down the hall and saw Ronan. “Eavesdropping, Lynch? Hear anything interesting?”

“Fuck off.”

 

***

Adam waited until they hit the outskirts of Henrietta before he started to freak out. Well, that’s not necessarily true. He’d probably been freaking out since before Declan even introduced him to Jarred Allard, but he waited several hours before he started vocalizing his issues. “I just mean, I worked this hard to get where I am because I wanted to go to a great school with the perfect major and get a great job and everything, and I feel like it would be wasted if I go to Palmetto. It isn’t really known for anything academically. I probably could have gotten in without going to Aglionby. If I don’t go to some great school, what was the point in going to an Ivy League Prep school? At the same time, though, if I didn’t go to Aglionby I wouldn’t be being offered this opportunity, so at least that would be something. And he said that I would probably qualify for a full ride scholarship and I’d have an automatic internship with him. Maybe even a permanent position with him after I graduate and that’s not an opportunity I’m gonna get anywhere else, and-”

Ronan cut him off, “Parrish. If this is what you want, go for it. No one is going to judge you for not living up to whatever standards you think we’re holding you to. If you don’t want to, you wouldn’t be throwing away an opportunity. You’d just be making another choice. It’s up to you either way.”

Adam went silent, probably making a mental pro and con list, for the rest of the ride. As they were pulling into the driveway of the Barns, Adam said, “I’m going to call Mr. Allard. I think I might take his offer.”


	2. It's a Spectrum, Nicky

Sarah’s team was kind of terrifying. Her first experience with any of them was actually okay. David Wymack introduced himself and they talked for a little bit. Sarah’s mom made sure she taught her kids manners, so she was going to listen to him all the way through his spiel before saying no, sorry, that she’s already going to Cornell but that she hopes he finds someone else to fill the spot. That was, at least, until he called in the girl that came with him. The second Renee Walker came into the room, Sarah knew she was done. Renee was the epitome of everything Sarah wanted to be. There was no way Sarah was going to be able to let her down.

Her second experience with any of the Foxes was great. Matt was picking the rest of the girls up from the airport and offered to hang around for an extra hour to drive Sarah, too. Sitting in a car with part of her new team was a dream come true. 

Then she met the boys. Allison calls them the Monsters, but she’s wrong. They aren’t monsters, not the way she knows. They are, however, self entitled brats who think they can throw around their maleness and take whatever they want. The ones who don’t act like they rule everything and everyone just sit idly by while the ones that do raise hell.

There’s the rest of the freshman, too. One boy has already made it onto her hate list. One of the girls is already well on her way. Old her would have cut them down where they stood, but new her just sat and smiled, making a mental note to pray for her own sanity later while they mocked her for everything they could find ‘wrong’ with her. She’s grown far too much to let one rude boy and his copycat bring her down.

After several weeks of practice, they seem to find some kind of rhythm. Sarah can tell she won’t ever be truly accepted by the older girls, but one of the other freshman, Rachel, is nice and seems to be friendly. They go out and get coffee together sometimes. They make fun of the football players who live in the room above them. Sarah laughs and makes faces behind Sheena’s back whenever she talks. It may not be perfect, but Rachel is someone who can be there for her for lighthearted conversations, and that’s enough to stave off the loneliness she’s feeling.

She calls each of her brothers twice a week and gets on a group call with all three of them and her mom on Sundays. She gets to hear about Caleb’s wife and their new baby. She gets to hear Jacob talk about the director of his new internship and how his socks never match. She gets to hear how Dustin and his fiance got a cat last week and a huge list of all the stupid names they’ve come up with. Sarah thinks “Fuzzikin III” is her favorite thus far.

She has all of these things, but it doesn’t feel like enough. Suddenly, Sarah feels like she’s 13 years old again, with her world coming down around her and she knows it’s all her fault because she signed up for this, but that doesn’t make her feel any less alone.

***

Part of the requirements that Palmetto puts in place for the sports students are mandatory tutors. She’ll get to meet hers after her last class on the first official day. Dan told her to make a good impression. The tutors are the ones that communicate with the Professors and Wymack about any kind of issues the players are having academically, so keeping them on your good side is best in the long run. 

On the first day, after walking out of her second class, she walks down to the library to go into the study room she was shown last week to wait for Adam, the tutor she’s supposed to meet with today. She’s there about ten minutes early, so she sits down with her laptop to bring up the articles she was reading and prepares to spend the next ten minutes reading about brutal murders. Instead, someone walks in less than a minute after her.

He walked over smiling and said, “Hello! Are you Sarah Hayes?” She nodded. “Okay, awesome. I’m Adam Parrish. I’m your tutor for your Anthropology classes. Someone else will be assigned to you for Intro to Statistics”

She smiles at him widely. “Hi, Adam.”

“I don’t know if anyone has really explained the basics of this program with you, so I’ll go over it super quickly. As you know, all students attending Palmetto on sports scholarships are required to meet with a tutor for an hour a week per class. I haven’t taken all the classes you’re taking this semester, but it isn’t too big of a deal, since I’m not supposed to teach you. I’m mostly here to help you study and double check work you’re turning in. I’m basically just here as a study buddy and proofreader. If you need anything more than that, I would get you connected with someone else who has more knowledge in that particular topic. Make sense?” She nodded. “Any questions?”

“Not about anything you just said. I just - your major? Are you going into teaching or something? Is that why you're a tutor? Or is that like, a personal question or something?"

“Everyone asks me at some point, so don’t feel like you’re invading my privacy somehow. It's a job for me. I’m actually an Anthropology major. I’m hoping to go into Charity work.” He sat down and pulled out a few papers.

“Oh, so we have the same major. Do they split everyone up like that?”

“When they can. Can we start going over your schedule? I know its a bit early, but I figure if we’re both here anyway we may as well.”

“Yeah, yeah, okay. Let me pull it up.” She moves her mouse for that her screen lights back up, showing the article she was reading a few minutes ago, and pulls up a new tab to open her school portal.

“Tanzania Witch Hunts?”

“Huh? Oh, yeah. Have you heard anything about that?”

“A little. I thought that they ended a few years ago when they passed those new laws, though.”

“Well kind of. I mean, does anything completely stop just because new laws are passed? The government prohibits killing supposed witches, but that doesn’t mean it’s not still happening.”

“I get that. I just hadn’t really thought about it recently. I’ll have to look into it more to have any real thoughts about it other than ‘don’t kill the witches’.” He scrolled through her class list. “Oh. That’s a good class. I loved it. I think you will too, based on the whole Tanzania thing?”

“Hmm? Oh, Magic, Witchcraft, and Religion? Yeah, it’s how I got into Anthropology to begin with a few years ago.”

“That’s cool. I actually kind of got cornered into it, myself, but that doesn’t make me like it any less. I like figuring out how people think. Anyway, you’ve only had two classes so far. I assume you just went over the syllabus and stuff? So nothing to do yet, really?”

“Basically, yeah.”

“Okay. Well we still have an hour and…” He checked his watch. “43 minutes. Anything you want to go over, or do you want to talk about that article some more?”

“Well if you’re bringing it up at least I know I won’t bore you.” She grinned at him. “Anyway, last month two men got in an argument about property lines. Later that day one of the men accused the other’s wife of witchcraft…..”

***

“I love my Anthropology tutor,” Sarah said as she flopped down on the couch between Rachel and Renee.

“Oh really? Don’t you think he’s a little too old for you?” Rachel asked, jokingly.

Sarah rolled her eyes “Shush, that’s not what I meant.”

Rachel laughed. “What else could you mean? I mean, you walked into the room declaring your love for the guy. And I heard you talking to Caleb about him last night. ‘Oh Caleb, he’s so nice! I listened to me talk about female CEOs for five minutes and didn’t roll his eyes at me once!’”

Renee smiled softly at Sarah, “I know what you mean. It’s always nice to have someone listen to you about the things you’re passionate about.”

“It’s only cause he wants to get you into bed, let’s be real here.”

“Rachel that is so not true!”

Allison jumped into the conversation from the chair next to Renee, “Yeah, that Parrish kid? No, he’s not hitting on you. He’s like, gay or something.”

Sarah slouched forward to look at Allison past Renee. “He isn’t gay. He’s like, bi or something. I think.”

“She says hopefully!” Rachel declared.

“Sarah. He has a boyfriend. He’s gay.” Nicky said from across the room.

“Not true. There’s a spectrum. Bi erasure is a huge issue and thinking like that just perpetuates the idea further. Guys should be able to date girls without immediately being labeled as straight and guys should be able to date other guys without immediately being labeled as gay. To say that-”

She was cut off by Coach Wymack walking into the room. “Everyone here? Too bad. Catch him up later. Let’s get started.”

***

“Hey, sorry I’m calling so late. I had a business meeting that ran over on time again. “

“It’s fine, Jacob. I just got back to my room, so if you’d called earlier I would have had to call you back anyway.” Not strictly true, she would have talked to him on the way back, but whatever. “Were you with the investors from that LA company again?”

“I wasn’t, thank God, I was with that other guy again.”

“Wow, so much information bro. You’re gonna have to tell me again slowly so that I can make sure I got it all.” She laughed at her own joke. “By ‘the guy’ you mean dad’s old partner?”

“Not his partner. His partner’s son.”

“Oh, cool. Multi-generational. Men. So fancy. So unexpected.”

“Shush, you,” he sighed, obviously trying to avoid getting into that conversation with Sarah.

“Other than the business meeting, how has everything been?”

“Well, I have a surprise, actually.” His voice went up at the end, like he’d been wanting to tell her all along, “I actually have business in Washington over Thanksgiving. Mom doesn’t want me out here alone, so we’re both going to Virginia. You can join us too if you want. I think we might be able to convince Dustin to fly over too.”

“That’s amazing! Is Kayla gonna come with Dustin? I’ve been dying to meet her.” Kayla is Dustin’s girlfriend - no, fiance - they’ve been together for a little over three years, but Dustin met her during university orientation in France for the international students and she hasn’t been able to make it over to the states yet.

“I don’t know. If I can convince Dustin to come out, then maybe? She’s wanted to stay with her family for holidays, but they don’t celebrate our Thanksgiving in Wales, obviously, maybe she’ll make an exception now that they’re engaged.”

“That’s fine, I can hope. He’s supposed to call me tomorrow, I’ll ask him then if you think that’s okay.” Jacob made a noise that sounded fairly affirmative. “How many days of overlap is there?”

“What do you mean?”

“Well obviously our breaks aren’t going to coincide perfectly. How many days of overlap is there for the three of us?”

“Caleb will be there the whole time. As for overlap, Dustin will have to head back three days after you get there.”

“Sounds good. I hope Kayla will be able to make it out.”

“Me too. So how have things been going with that bitchy roommate?”

***

It was six weeks after classes started that she broke and finally yelled at someone. She’d been listening to freaking Kevin Day yell at her for anything he could find wrong with her performance at practice. Apparently being on a team that won against his old team made him omniscient in all things Exy. It was only a matter of time before she caved. Damien and Sheena did weeks ago.

In the middle of Kevin yelling at her about ‘sloppy footwork’ she looked up to meet his eyes. “One more comment on my playing today and I’ll walk out.” He started to say something else, but she cut him off, “No. You’re the one who fumbled that pass in our last game. I don’t care that you were playing the entire time. That was your choice because you didn’t want any of the freshman playing. You fought with coach about it and he gave in because he feels like he owes you.

“As I’m sure you know, I’m typically a calm person. The fact that even I am annoyed by you right now should be taken as a sign that you’ve gone too far. You are not our coach and you are not our captain. Stop taking your emotions out on us.”

“It doesn’t matter why I’m doing it! The fact of the matter is that we’re 6 games in and you guys still aren’t ready!”

Sarah turned away, grabbing the racquet that Kevin had thrown at the start of his yelling, and walked toward the door to leave. Allison opened the door for her and she walked out while Neil told Kevin to let her go.

***

She sat in the locker room for five minutes before deciding no one was coming to keep her from leaving, so she took a shower. Practice would be over soon, anyway, so it wasn't too big of a deal.

When she got out and started getting dressed, the other girls started coming in. Renee sat on the bench next to her while the other four girls got undressed and started taking their own showers. “Hey, Sarah. You okay?”

“Yeah, I’m okay. Just having a bad day. Sorry I freaked out.”

“Everyone freaks out at Kevin at some point.”

“Not you.”

“No, not me. That doesn’t mean I don’t want to sometimes.” Sarah didn’t respond to that, so Renee changed the subject, “I haven’t seen that one before. Is it new?” She pointed to the necklace Sarah was holding.

“No. It was my dad’s. I usually tuck it into my shirt, so no one really sees it.” Sarah put the it over her head and dropped it down her shirt. She was waiting for Renee to say something, but she didn’t. “He died when I was 13.”

“Your dad?”

“Mhmm. He had a good job. He loved us. He was a good person. We still don’t know what happened.”

“I’m sorry. If you need to talk to someone, feel free to find me. I’ll pray for you to find peace, if you’re okay with that.”

“Thank you Renee.” Sarah stood up. “Thanks for talking to me. I need to go, though. I’ll see you later, okay?”

She left the locker room and went to her car. She still needed to write something for her European history class and hasn’t decided on a topic yet, so she still needs to be a functioning human for a few hours. Coffee. Coffee was necessary. She didn’t want to head back to her dorm yet, though. There was a chance she’d run into one of the boys if she went back any time soon. Their coffee maker was broken anyway, she’d have to ask to borrow the other girls’. Starbucks it is.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yes. I gave them my major even though Clemson (the school Palmetto is based on) doesn't offer it.


	3. Matthew Almost Runs Someone Over

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm on pain meds at the moment, so my English may not be the best.
> 
> Also, this chapter is pretty short, but it serves its purpose. The next chapter is mostly written, so it'll probably be up in the morning (or sooner).

There are certain things Declan likes to hire people to do. Yard work. Inspections. Electric work. Things like that. 

So when Matthew decided he wanted to learn to drive a few months before his birthday, Declan started figuring out how to sign up for classes through his school. Like most things Declan tries to do, however, it doesn't go according to plan. Matthew admitted after a few days that he'd actually been hoping that Declan would teach him. 

Declan tried so hard to be enough for his brothers and hated the idea of not allowing Matthew one of the few things he's ever asked for, so he agreed immediately. He starts to regret that decision when Matthew decided that he wanted to drive the last two hours of the trip down to South Carolina.

Everything went fine. They were trying to find parking by the awful fast food restaurant Ronan reluctantly agreed to meet him at. Matthew was doing fine. Everything was okay. Then he saw a girl in skinny jeans and a pale yellow sweater step into the road. Matthew didn’t slow down.

“Stop! Jesus Matt!” Declan yelled as Matthew slammed on the breaks. The girl jumped back and dropped her coffee. Matthew threw open the car door to go to the girl he almost ran down. Her face someone balanced halfway between terrified and pissed off. “Matthew, seriously!?”

The car behind them started honking. Declan stepped out, shut his car door, and started toward Matthew and the girl, who had moved a few feet over to the sidewalk. Matthew was babbling apologies to the girl, “I’m SO sorry. My brain stopped working I guess. I forgot I was the one driving, I think? I don’t really know.”

“You don’t know? How the hell do you not know?”

“I don’t know!” Matthew moved his focus to Declan for a few seconds, “Dec? Can you go park the car? I think some people want to kill us.” Then back to the girl, “Are you hurt? Do you need to go to the hospital or something? We can bring you!”

“Nu-uh. Not a chance I’m trusting you to drive me anywhere.”

The car honked again. Declan decided that if anyone could handle an angry teenage girl it would be Matthew, so he got in the driver’s seat through the still open door and left to park in the spot Matthew was going for before the whole debacle. 

Since he girl didn’t look as downright murderous as she did when Declan left (how the fuck does Matthew do that?) Declan didn’t bother wasting any time checking up on Matthew. When he walked in he saw Adam and Ronan in the back corner by the door to the child area with a plastic tray behind them. Fries were piled up between them like Lincoln Logs. Ronan was trying to balance a cup of ketchup on top while Adam fiddled with his phone. He pulled a chair from the neighboring table, dragging one of the legs along the floor and making an awful noise, to where they were.

After sitting down he looked at Adam. “I know how much Ronan hates talking to me. Thanks for convincing him.” Ronan made an indignant face and sent his tower flying across the tray.

“Ronan is the one who agreed. Thank him.”

Although the brothers had made a lot of progress over the years, it’s been slow. Present, but slow. “Thanks for meeting me here, then. Henrietta may have been easier, but this works.”

“I thought Matthew was coming with.” It wasn’t quite a question, but it wasn’t a statement either.

“He is. Or he should be if that girl outside doesn’t kill him. He’s outside still.” It may have still been a possibility. Declan thought he might have to go check on him soon.

Adam, always trying to get the most information possible, asked “Why does a girl want to kill him?” 

“Not important. Let’s just jump to why I asked to meet with you-”

Declan was cut off by Ronan, “You said it was about dad.”

Declan shook his head. “Not about dad. I said it was about his old business. I’ve been talking to someone from California. His dad used to work in similar circles. He claims that his dad had similar… abilities. He won’t say that his sister or any of his brothers do as well, but as far as I’ve seen at least one of the kids usually can.”

This time it was Adam who interrupted. “So he’s protecting himself or one of his siblings. I don’t see why that’s a big deal.”

“I’m not saying it is. I’m just telling you my observations from the last few years I’ve been researching this.” No one cut him off this time, so he continued, “the official story is somewhat similar to ours. Michael Hayes was murdered in his home overnight while his kids and wife were asleep. Police never brought in a suspect and no one ever got a lead. The oldest son was on vacation when it happened. He came back to wrap up some of the business his father had been in the middle of, but he didn’t attend the funeral. All four of Michael’s kids and his wife are still in the public eye, so we know none of them are asleep.

“The issue with this is that I have strong reason to believe that the daughter was Michael’s dream. She’s still awake and functioning, though. She even gathered quite the record over the years after her father passed. Drugs, breaking and entering, a few weeks in a psych ward, then mandatory counseling for three years. Nothing in the last few years though. I’m not sure if she’s recovering or getting better at hiding it, but I’m keeping tabs on her anyway.“

“Why do we need to know this?” Ronan asked, obviously annoyed.

“Well, like I said, I’ve been watching the family. I want to make sure they aren’t a threat. I thought I should warn you two anyway, since the daughter attends Palmetto.” 

Adam jumped in, “Then I think we may have a problem.” Declan leaned forward over the table and looked to where Adam was pointing. “Sarah Hayes just walked in with Matthew.”

***

Sarah was a nice girl, Declan had to admit. The first thing she did was apologize to Declan for yelling at them. Apparently some kid on her Exy team was being an asshole. She didn’t use that word, specifically, but the sentiment was clear. Then she sat down and inserted herself into their conversation (with the topic changed) so seamlessly it was as though she’d been there all along, which was a power move Declan himself was still trying to learn how to pull off. 

She removed her coffee splattered sweater and threw it in the trash can by the table, causing a brief face of shock and disgust from Adam and revealing a solid grey shirt the same shade as the heels she’d taken off and hung off the back of her chair. After a few minutes of conversation that had pleasantly drawn in both Adam and Matthew (Ronan was back to forming buildings out of food and had effectively blocked out the conversation), she mentioned an after game party the next night and invited all four boys. 

Adam accepted, but made a point to mention that it probably wasn’t Ronan’s scene. Ronan grunted in agreement.

Declan declined, trying to argue that Matthew had to be back by Monday, so they were leaving the next morning. Matthew ‘reminded’ him that they had a long weekend at school because of Columbus Day. Delcan did remember. That’s why they were there on a Thursday. Why they came this weekend in the first place. He was just hoping Matthew had forgotten.

“I can’t come with, but if Matthew wants to attend we can hang out here for an extra day.” 

Matthew smiled widely enough his face most likely hurt. How he didn’t tear his face open was unknown. “Of course, of course!”

“Great!” she put her shoes back on. “Well, I’d love to stay and keep chatting, but I do have someplace to be.” She looked to Matthew and stood up. “Walk me out?”

He jumped up far too quickly to walk out with her. Ronan snorted and mumbled something. Adam swatted his arm in response. 

“Well, he doesn’t take after Ronan as much as I thought he did,” Declan said, trying to prevent himself from laughing.


	4. Want to Make a Good Impression With Drunk Cheerleaders? Tarot Cards!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Just a quick note at the beginning.
> 
> The deck used in TRC isn't the same one I used, so I had to wing it in quite a few places. Please ignore all of the inaccuracies. I'm mostly writing this fic as writing warm ups for the book I'm writing, so I haven't really been putting a ton of effort into this. Sorry!

Matthew bought last minute tickets to the game for Friday night. He sat in between a couple that were steadily becoming more drunk as the night went on and a family with a small daughter wearing a pair of noise reducing headphones that kept trying to climb into Matthew’s lap. He hadn’t told Sarah he was attending, too afraid that he’d be forced into a conversation about a sport he knew nothing about, but watching was surprisingly enjoyable. 

Sarah even made it in for almost 15 minutes at the end, after a particularly nasty check took out #2. They were already ahead 12-7, but by the time the game ended he Foxes had scored three more times, Sarah once and #10 twice. Everytime their goalie blocked a shot, fans dressed in green would scream and boo. The atmosphere was so different from what he was used to and he found himself loving it more and more. 

When it ended, he made it outside to find Adam on the curb they agreed to meet at and he texted Sarah to let her know where they were. Adam was on the phone with Henry, who was talking about how annoying his roommate was. From what little he could comprehend, Matthew didn’t think Henry was taking to being separated from Blue and Gansey. 

Henry’s gap year had turned into two, which turned into his mom threatening to write him out and disown him if he didn’t attend the next year. He was at Stanford now. Gansey and Blue were off in California as part of some deal to the elder Ganseys. No politics or college, but he had to prove he could still be important without it. They’d discovered some old site of some importance last month near the Mexico border and were still involved with the media coverage.

Sarah texted to let her know that she just finished the interviews and she’d be done in 20 minutes. Matthew finished up his call a moment after. “Is Henry doing okay?”

“Yeah, I think. Henry’s hard to read. All I have to go on is what he says and that isn’t always the most accurate.” Adam sighed, fixing his gaze on the tree under the street light. 

“Can Gansey and Blue tell how he actually feels?”

“Yeah. It’s like some kind of superpower.” Adam looked over to Matthew.

Matthew looked back. “So, kind of like you always know what Ronan means? Even when I have a hard time knowing?”

“I guess so,” Adam said, smiling.

“Sarah said she’d meet us inside at the entrance for the other parking lot when she’s done.”

Adam laughed a little. “We should probably start heading over then. Declan dropped you off?” Matthew nodded. “Okay, we’ll take the BMW, then. Ronan made me take it.” 

They both got up and started walking out to the parking lot. He’d gotten here pretty recently, so he was parked a long ways back. A lot of cars had already left and the parking lot was surprisingly dead for immediately after a game. Matthew walked ahead slightly and had the door closed behind him before Adam even made it to the car. He opened the door, “Excited to see Sarah, huh?” Adam teased.

Matthew blushed. “Maybe a little.” He fiddled with one of the buttons on his shirt, popping it in and out of the buttonhole.

“I can see that. She’s nice. We have the same major, actually. I think she may going a totally different direction with her’s though.”

“Yeah, she wants to do something with archeology. She likes the historical part of it.”

“You’ve been texting her?” 

Matthew hesitated a bit. “Yeah.”

“That’s good. I’d appreciate someone who actually texted back. Not that there’s anything wrong with Ro, obviously, but I consider myself lucky if he responds once a week.” Adam turned the wheel, pulling into the other parking lot. This side had a ton of people. Near the back someone had a huge bonfire going. “That can’t possibly be legal. Do you think we could just go straight there? Or did she need a ride?”

“I can ask. She probably doesn’t want a ride, though. I don’t think she’d want anyone I know driving her.” He smirked a little, like there was some kind of joke Adam was missing out on. He pulled his phone out to text her.

“Why’s that?”

“I kinda. Well. I almost hit her yesterday.”

“Matthew!”

“Yeah, it’s why she was mad at me and had coffee all over her clothes. It turned out okay, though!”

“I’m surprised she was still willing to talk to you after that. Wait. No, scratch that. I know both of you. I’m not surprised.” He found a 15 minute parking spot on the curb and parked in it as a group of college kids were walking out of the building.

Matthew’s phone buzzed. “She says we can wait here or meet her there. She’ll be out in a minute, though. If you’ll drive her she can give you directions, you just have to promise to to get in a fatal accident.”

“I can’t promise that, but I can promise that I’ll try not to.”

“Good enough. I’ll be back!” Matthew hopped out of the car and walked toward the doors as Sarah an a few other girls excited.

***

The majority of the room was drunk. They were in one of the study rooms in the Athlete housing. The cheerleaders, most of the exy team, plus a few other random people (including Adam and Matthew) were in attendance. Sarah had pulled Matthew off to play some card game a few minutes before and Adam was sitting with a few of the cheerleaders. One of the girls, Mya, was talking about an experience with a psychic she had the previous summer.

“My friend was raised by a group of psychics. One of them taught me a lot, actually.”

Mya giggled. “That’s amazing! Can you do any of it? Tell me what I’m thinking!”

“I can do parts of it. I can’t read minds, though. I’m not that good. I mostly did Tarot readings. I can do one for you if you want.”

Her friends all laughed way too loud and she yelled “yes!”

He pulled the cards he carried in his pockets out. He figured he’d need them tonight, so he grabbed his new deck as he was walking out the door. Persephone’s old ones were still in his room. He didn’t necessarily want those around a bunch of drunk girls, so he definitely made the right choice there.

“So I think we should keep it simple and just do three card fortunes. It’ll still be interesting for you guys and it won’t be as difficult to keep up.” Probably a good idea to keep it simple. 

He shuffled them and laid them out in front of her. “Pick three.”

Judgement. Page of Cups. Death.

All of the girls gasped.

“Death doesn’t mean actual death of a person. It means change or endings.”

They all sighed. 

“You’re holding onto something that has passed. Let it go. You’re important to your friends so they’ll listen to you, but you have to be in the right mindset to help them Make sure you know the people around you, you’re important to their unity.”

Mya laughed. “That’s SO cool! Allison! Allison!”

A girl walked over. One of the players, he thought. “What’s going on, Mya?”

“This guy has cards and is giving us readings! He should do you! Adam, do her, do her!”

“Yeah Adam, do me.” Allison smirked. A few of the other people on the team walked up behind her to see what was going on.

Adam rolled his eyes, re-shuffled the deck and laid it out. “Have at it.”

“How many?” Allison asked. She wasn’t as far gone as the cheerleaders.

“Three.”

So Allison picked three. Seven of Cups. Nine of Swords. The Chariot.

“You’ve succeeded a lot and will continue to make it far. Let yourself be hopeful. Look into your future with optimism instead of the dread you’re feeling. The future won’t be super stable, but it will get you where you need to be.”

“What, that’s all?”

“Leave me alone, I’m tired.”

“Show me something else. Do Kevin’s. That should be interesting.” Allison jumped up on the counter next to where Adam was sitting, letting her legs fall so her feet were on the chair right by Adam. “Oh, Kevin! Come get your cards read!”

Kevin stumbled forward and grabbed three like Allison had. Strength. Nine of Swords. Queen of Wands.

“Pfft, Queen,” one of the girls joked.

“Learn to tell the difference between who you are and what your ego thinks you are. Do what you need to to help, even if it isn’t the most comfortable choice. You have sacrificed far too much time and energy on something that you simply cannot reach. Learn to let go. Concentrate on supporting those around you instead if trying to take charge.”

The rest of the team burst out laughing. Allison yelled something into Adam’s deaf ear, probably making fun of Kevin. Kevin just looked around at everyone and sat back down on his chair. Maybe drinking so much after a head injury was a bad idea.

Allison leaned forward and grabbed for Renee’s hand. “Your turn!”

Renee reached up to put her hand in Allison’s. “No, but thank you. I’d prefer not to, though.”

“Not a problem! Anyone else?” 

Another girl came forward. Dan Wilds, Adam thought. He shuffled the deck again and she grabbed three.

The Hierophant. Three of Cups. The Emperor.

Dan looked at them. “I don’t know what any of them mean.”

“Not an issue, that’s what I’m here for, apparently. These three cards together mean that you have the ability to succeed in your goals. Learn everything you can now and keep gaining experience. Later down the line, you will earn respect and recognition from it. Use the resources you have and don’t be afraid to depend on your friends to get where you want to be.”

“Oh. Thanks!” Dan smiled brightly.

“Okay, make room! My turn!” A hispanic boy pushed his way through. He looked Adam over, “I’m Nicky.”

“Hi, Nicky. Do the same thing everyone else has.”

His face dropped, obviously upset with his failed attempts at flirting and he concentrated hard on the cards, selecting his own three. Seven of Cups. Two of Cups. The Devil.

“Allow yourself to daydream. You have options. Express how you feel and speak your heart, whether that is expressing your love or letting yourself be angry. Do what is best for you. Don’t let your need to be liked make decisions for you.”

Nicky looked at the cards again. “Aaron! I love you!” He started forward to hug a blond boy, Aaron, Adam presumed, who ducked behind another of the cheerleaders. Nicky kept walking after him, though, until Aaron backed out of the room. Everyone still present was laughing, including the girl Aaron had hidden behind originally.

Matthew and Sarah had made it to the front and were paying attention now. “Sarah? You want a turn?” 

She looked at Matthew, who nodded enthusiastically. “I guess. Why not?” She selected three that were in a row right at the beginning.

“Can she do that?” Allison asked.

“Energy is what energy does. She can pick whatever cards she wants.” He looked at he cards Sarah had flipped. The Hermit. Wheel of Fortune. Two of Swords.

Sarah laughed. “That about sums up my life!”

“That’s the hope! Anyway, things are changing for you. Follow the flow of events, they’ll lead you the right way. You are protected and watched over, so you have time. Give yourself time to think, even if it means telling everyone to leave you alone when you’re making your decisions. Express how you feel and keep the commitments you make.”

He looked up at Sarah, who was smiling sadly. “Thank you, Adam.” 

“Of course. So who was next?”


End file.
